Low profile medical kit

ABSTRACT

First-aid systems having an ultra compact first-aid pouch configured to fit behind the ballistic plates of a protective vest are disclosed. In this configuration, the first-aid kit is protected from shrapnel and tearing, is easily locatable and removable and does not effect the user&#39;s freedom of movement. When the first-aid pouch is removed from its protected location, it presents the first-aid equipment in a logical and easily viewable manner.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED MATTERS

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. Nonprovisionalapplication Ser. No. 15/990,231 filed 25 May 2018; which is aContinuation of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 15/263,185filed 12 Sep. 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,980,525; which is a Continuationof U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 14/590,854 filed 6 Jan.2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,439,819 issued 13 Sep. 2016; which is aContinuation of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 13/447,621filed 16 Apr. 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,925,115 issued 6 Jan. 2015;which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/475,803 filed 15 Apr. 2011; each of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to first-aid systems, and moreparticularly, to utilizing a low profile ultra slim emergency first-aidkit that can be easily stored and carried by a person.

BACKGROUND

First-aid kits generally contain items intended to be used as a means toquickly and effectively respond to accidents or injuries when away fromtraditional medical emergency facilities. Such kits are intended to beused either by the injured party or to aid someone else who has beeninjured. To be effective therefore, a first-aid kit must be lightweight,portable, accessible, and must contain the necessary equipment to treataccidents or injuries that may occur based on the situation andenvironment. Nowhere is this more critical then in a military or lawenforcement environment, where the threat of accident or injury is oftensevere and access to on site medical treatment limited.

Traditionally, military personal have been provided with individualfirst-aid kits (IFAK) during times of military deployment. Such kits aretypically housed in cloth bags or pouches and are designed to be worn onthe outside of a uniform. Such IFAKs are intended to increase anindividual soldiers capability to provide self-aid or buddy-aid on thebattlefield. The kits typically contain first-aid equipment intended totreat sever hemorrhage and inadequate airway injuries, the two leadingcause of battlefield fatalities.

Current first-aid kits are either deployed on a belt strap, back pouch,or leg strap to allow for freedom of movement and access to the contentsof the pouch. This often makes it difficult for a soldier or lawenforcement officer to get to the contents of the pouch, for example,when in a sitting position or inside a vehicle. Additionally, if awounded soldier or officer needs to be dragged out of harms way, havingthe kit mounted on the exterior of a uniform often results in the kitbeing torn off and lost in the process. Furthermore, in the event of anexplosion, kits located on the outside of a uniform are often blown offor destroyed due to shrapnel and are therefore of no value to theinjured person or to those treating them.

Another shortfall of the current first-aid kits, is that during times ofhigh stress and rapid combat deployment, it may be inadvertently leftbehind, as it is one more piece of equipment that a solider orenforcement officer must remember to attach to a uniform. Similarly,because of the lack of uniformity in placement on a user's person, it isoften hard to locate or determine if a victim is in possession of afirst-aid kit, as soldiers or law enforcement officer often are deployedwith many types of gear in many similar types of pouches and bags. Insituations where seconds may determine the chance to save a life, suchconfusion cannot be tolerated. Further, due to the external and bulkymounting of existing kits, they tend to get in the way of operations andinhibit the wearers ability to quickly and efficiently get into and outof confined spaces and quarters.

Finally, existing IFAKs are often disorganized and the contents aresimply thrown into a bag. The contents are randomly mixed inside,requiring the entire contents to be emptied during an emergencysituation so that a person administering aid can locate the item oritems required under the circumstances. This does not allow the user toadminister first-aid in a logical order, may lead to confusion and losttime.

Accordingly, a need exists for a first-aid kit, that will not be leftbehind, will not be torn or ripped off during maneuvers or damaged dueto shrapnel, is light weight, uniformly deployable, presents thecontents in a logical fashion and is easily accessible by both thecarrier or another party. The apparatus and systems illustrated addressthose needs.

SUMMARY

Typical protective vests are manufactured from “soft-armor” materialssuch as Kevlar® or other “bullet proof” materials and offer a level ofprotection to the wearer sufficient to offer protection in manysituations. For the additional security required in today's military andlaw enforcement applications, however, soft armor is often insufficientagainst military munitions and shrapnel. Accordingly, many protectivevests or body armor vests contain a series of external pockets on thefront, back and sides of the vest for adding additional body armor suchas metal or ceramic plates, also known as ballistic plates or hardarmor. The plates are usually placed to cover particularly vulnerableparts of the body such as the heart, chest, and back regions, therebyproviding protection to the vital organs. The pockets may also beprovided on internal portions of the vests to allow the ballistic platesto be located between the vest and the user.

The vast majority of soldiers in combat and law enforcement personnelnow wear some sort of protective vest to prevent bodily injury frombullets and shrapnel. The configuration and protection afforded by suchvests can be exploited to remedy the shortfalls of existing individualfirst-aid kits. By configuring a first-aid pouch to fit behind theballistic plates in front of or behind the wearer, either in theexisting pockets of the vest or between the hard and soft armor or onthe inside of the vest itself, adjacent the user, the first-aid kit canbe protected from shrapnel and tearing, is easily locatable andremovable and does not effect the user's freedom of movement, and whenremoved from the vest, presents the first-aid equipment in a logical,easily viewable manner. In order to implement such a system however,IFAKs must be ultra thin and not add any significant bulk to the wearersprotective vest. Must be easily accessible and removable and shouldpresent the contents in an organized manner.

One embodiment discloses a first-aid system comprising a protective vestcontaining a first ballistic plate to be worn by a user, and a firstpouch for holding first-aid equipment, wherein the protective vestcontains an internal surface and an external surface, the externalsurface containing a pocket for locating the first ballistic plate, andwherein the first pouch is located between the ballistic plate and theuser, either in the internal pocket on the exterior of the vest or onthe interior of the vest, for example, in an internal pocket or attachedto the inside of the vest. The first aid pouch may be located in apocket or attached or connected to the vest or ballistic plate using anytype of attachment method, including glue, hook and loop fasteners,snaps, tape, zippers, magnets, springs, clips, fastecs, safety pins, orany other type of connector or attachment mechanism now know or laterdeveloped. The first aid system may alternatively or additionallyinclude a second pouch located at the rear of the vest. The second pouchmay be attached to the vest or ballistic plate in the same manner as thefirst pouch or in a different manner.

In another embodiment the individual first-aid kit or kits are vacuumsealed into low profile pouches, configured to be deployed in locationsbetween the ballistic plates of a user's protective vest and the userthereby providing the wearer with an easily locatable, individualprotected first-aid kit.

In a further embodiment, the kits are releasably attached to the insideof the vest and contain a handle to allow the user or the wearer toquickly and easily locate and remove the kits when needed.Alternatively, the pouches or kits may include a rip cord that whenpulled releases the pouch from the connectors or the pocket

In an embodiment, the first-aid kits are releasably attached to theballistic plates inserted into the pockets of the vest allowing the useror the wearer to quickly and easily locate and remove the kits whenneeded.

In another embodiment, the low profile first-aid kit for emergencymedical treatment comprises a sealable pouch, a substantially planarbase portion, and a plurality of first-aid items arranged in aprioritized order detachably secured to the substantially planar baseportion. Alternatively, the base portion may be malleable so as toconform to the shape of the user at the location of deployment.

In yet another embodiment, the first-aid equipment is detachably mountedto a substantially planar board and arranged in a prioritized order toallow the user to administer first-aid in a logical order.Alternatively, the part that the first-aid equipment is mounted to maybe malleable so as to conform to the shape of the user at the locationof deployment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The system and apparatus, in accordance with one or more embodiments, isdescribed in detail with reference to the following drawings. Thedrawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merelydepict typical or example embodiments. These drawings are provided tofacilitate the reader's understanding and shall not be consideredlimiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. Itshould be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawingsare not necessarily made to scale.

Some of the figures included herein illustrate various embodiments fromdifferent viewing angles. Although the accompanying descriptive text mayrefer to such views as “top,” “bottom” or “side” views, such referencesare merely descriptive and do not imply or require that the embodimentbe implemented or used in a particular spatial orientation unlessexplicitly stated otherwise.

FIG. 1 is a view of the exterior front section of a typical protectivevest;

FIG. 2 is a view of the exterior rear section of a typical protectivevest;

FIG. 3 is a view of the inside of a front section of a typicalprotective vest;

FIG. 4 is a view of the inside of a rear section of a typical protectivevest;

FIG. 5 is a close up view of a pocket on the exterior of the protectivevest;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a typical first-aid pouch in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a further perspective of the first-aid pouch of FIG. 6 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are front and rear views, respectively, of a first-aidpouch in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are front and rear views, respectively, of a first-aidpouch in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are front and rear views, respectively, of a first-aidpouch in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are front and rear views, respectively, of a first-aidpouch in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a top view of a typical ballistic plate showing first-aidPouch attachment points in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a top view of a first-aid pouch mounted to a ballistic platein accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a view of the exterior front section of a protective vest;

FIG. 15 is a view of the vest of FIG. 14 with its internal pocket openand a ballistic plate and first-aid pouch installed;

FIG. 16 is a view of a plate holder to be worn over the user's head; and

FIG. 17 is an open end view of the user side of the plate holder of FIG.16 with a ballistic plate and first-aid pouch installed.

The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the preciseform disclosed. It should be understood that the invention can bepracticed with modification and alteration, and that it is limited onlyby the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is described herein in terms of exampleembodiments. Descriptions in terms of these embodiments are provided toallow the various features of the invention to be portrayed in thecontext of an exemplary application. As will be clear to one of ordinaryskill in the art, the invention can be implemented in different andalternative embodiments without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art to which this invention belongs. All patents, applications,published applications and other publications referred to herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forthin this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with adefinition set forth in applications, published applications and otherpublications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definitionset forth in this document prevails over the definition that isincorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 1 depicts the outside front of protective vest 10. FIG. 2 depictsthe outside back portion of protective vest 10. Vest 10 includes chestportion 1, back portion 2, shoulder straps 3, side closures 4, frontballistic plate pocket 5, rear ballistic plate pocket 6, side pockets 7,and equipment straps 8. Typical vests are modular in nature and may alsoinclude additional ballistic plate pockets, ballistic collars, lowerback plates, and/or groin protection portions as well. The inclusion orexclusion of such additional components is not necessary for practicingthe embodiments disclosed, however, utilizing the additional areas ofprotection afforded by these additional features, would be within thespirit of the invention.

A user wishing to wear protective vest 10 will typically slip the vestover the head so that chest portion 1 is located on the front of thebody and back portion 2 is located over the back of the body. Utilizingside closures 4, the vest 10 can be adjusted to fit the user snugly.Typically, side closures 4 are held in place with hook and loop typefasteners or the like. Protective vest 10 maybe a cloth vest or may beintegrally manufactured with a layer of soft armor such as Kevlar®

In this embodiment, first-aid pouch 20, as depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 mayfit inside front ballistic pocket 5 behind ballistic plate 25 and infront of the soft armor or Kevlar® layer of protective vest 10. As seenin FIG. 5 , first-aid pouch 20 is protected behind ballistic plate 25yet is easily removable by the wearer or anyone needing to utilize thefirst-aid pouch.

Likewise, in FIG. 2 , first-aid pouch 20 is located in rear ballisticplate pocket 6 between the ballistic plate (not shown) and the softarmor layer of protective vest 10 closest to the wearers body. In thislocation, the first-aid pack is protected from shrapnel and bullets, yeteasily accessible as a buddy-pack first-aid kit when required. As willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art, as long as the first-aidpack is located between a ballistic plate and the user or between thehard and soft armor, the location of the pockets in the protective vestcan be modified and altered without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In another embodiment, the first-aid pouch is located on the inside ofthe vest adjacent the wearers body behind the hard and soft armor. Inthis configuration, the first-aid pouch is not within a ballistic platepocket, but still behind ballistic plate 25 which is inserted in theoutside pocket of protective vest 10. As seen in FIG. 3 , first-aidpouch 20 can be located on inside front 9 of protective vest 10.Likewise, as seen in FIG. 4 first-aid pouch 20 can be located in theinside rear 11 of protective vest 10. in either configuration, the firstaid pouch 20 is located behind the hard and soft armor. First-aid pouch20 can be attached to the inside of the vest utilizing connectors 12.Connector 12 can be any type of attachment mechanism that allowsfirst-aid pouch 20 to be releasably connected to inside front 9 orinside rear 12. Typically, a hook and loop type connector can be used,but other connectors such as magnets, springs, clips, fastecs, or anyother suitable connector capable of fastening the pack to the vest maybe utilized.

As noted in FIGS. 3 and 4 , first-aid pouch 20 is directly behind theballistic plate 25 (represented by the dashed line) located on theexterior surface of the ballistic vest in a pocket. In this manner, thefirst-aid pouch is protected from any bullets or shrapnel while stillremaining easily accessible to the wearer. To improve location and easeremoval, handle 21 maybe molded or formed in the first-aid pouch by anyknown methods available.

As seen in FIG. 5 , first-aid pouch 20 is completely protected byballistic plate 25, even when it is located on the exterior of theprotective vest 10, by placing it in front ballistic plate pocket 5 ofchest portion 1. In this configuration, handle 21 also allows the usereasy access to the first-aid pouch when required.

FIG. 6 , shows first-aid pouch 20 containing handle 21, opener 22, base,23, pouch 24 and first-aid items 26. Handle 21 may be located on thetop, bottom or sides of first-aid pouch 20 and may be integrated in thepouch itself or be attached to the outside of the pouch provided itallows easy and efficient removal of pouch 20 from its stored location.Likewise, opener 22 may be a tear away strip, rip cord, zip seal, tapeor any other means that allows easy and quick access to the contents ofpouch 20. Opener 22 may be a single use device or may allow pouch 22 tobe resealed after use. Opener 22 may be located anywhere on pouch 20 andis not limited to the location shown.

First-aid items 26 are arranged on base 23 in a prioritized order thatallows the user to provide first-aid in an orderly manner without havingto search through all the first items to locate the required first-aiditem 26. The base 23 made comprise the same material as the remainder ofthe first aid pouch or may comprise a different material. First-aidpouch 20 is typically composed from plastic that forms a bag 24 overfirst-aid items 26 and base 23. Once all the desired contents are placedwithin bag 24, the pouch is vacuum sealed to reduce the overallthickness and bulk of the first-aid pouch 20.

As depicted in FIG. 7 , ideally, thickness 27 of first-aid pouch 20 isbetween about 0.2 and 1.0 inches, with the front first-aid kit pouchideally being between about 0.2 and 0.4 inches or less and the backfirst-aid pouch being between about 0.2 and 0.04 inches or less. Bag 24is typically constructed of clear plastic film, to allow the user toview the contents, however, any plastic film, such as a reflective film(Mylar®) or a tinted film, would be acceptable, as long as it is capableof being vacuum sealed. Reflective film such as Mylar® could potentiallyoffer an additional thermal barrier to the wearer, and act as an ad hocheat shield to aid with hypothermia, as such films typically reflectheat and light in the infrared spectrum.

Front, “self-aid,” and rear, “buddy-aid,” kits can contain similar ordifferent first-aid supplies, based on the expected mission andconditions. Typically, a front first-aid kit could contain combat gauzeS-fold dressings, Kerlix cotton gauze S-fold dressings, a HALO dressing,a 14G IV catheter, gloves, NPA Adjustable airway, pills, dosageinformation, Tactical Casualty Combat Care (TCCC) card and safety pins.Similarly, a buddy-aid kit could include a piece of hydro-gel, SAMssplints, Kerlix cotton gauze S-fold dressings, 14 G IV catheter, andmonofilament line. Additional items such as scalpels, cravats, andelastic bandages may also be included depending on the environment andexpected mission.

FIGS. 8-11 , depict some kits based on the expected missions. Thesefigures and the accompanying descriptions, however, in no way limit thescope of the claims and are merely included as exemplars of possiblefirst-aid kit combinations. FIGS. 8 and 9 depict a typical two day orstay over day kit combination which will suit the needs of the majorityof military operations. Such a two-day kit combination would be utilizedwhere evacuation of wounded persons could be delayed. FIGS. 8 a and 8 bdepict both sides of front kit 30. Front kit 30 contains two Z-Medcombat gauzes 31, two Kerlix cotton gauzes 32, four inch elastic bandage33, gloves 34, nasopharyngeal airway (NPA) 35, Halo dressing 36 andcravat 37. FIGS. 9 a and 9 b depict front and back views of back kit 40.Back kit 40 contains 8″×10″ sheet of hydrogel 41, eighteen inch SAMsplint 42, NPA 43, oral re-hydrating salt pack 44, #10 scalpel 45, 14GIV catheter wound with wire 46, combat pill pack 47 (containing forexample, medicine, casualty card and safety pins), and two Kerlix cottongauzes 48.

Another typical kit configuration, includes the single pouch helicopterassault force (HAF) kit depicted in FIG. 10 . This single pouch isintended for mission profiles with ground evacuation times between oneand two hours. FIG. 10 depicts typical HAF kit 50. FIGS. 10 a and 10 bdepict front and back views of HAF kit 50. HAF kit 50 is typically afront plate kit but as explained previously, it may be deployed anywhereon the body of a wearer without departing from the spirit of theinvention, as long as it is placed behind a ballistic plate and adjacentto the users body. HAF kit contains, two Z-Med combat gauzes 51, twoKerlix cotton gauze 52, four inch elastic bandage 53, Halo dressing 54,gloves 55, NPA 56, cravat 57, fourteen gauge IV catheter wound with wire58, oral re-hydrating salt pack 59 and combat pill pack (CPP) 60.

FIG. 11 depicts another typical single pouch kit intended for shortmissions of less then 1 hour which might be utilized by law enforcementor a military unit with dedicated air support or other quick evacuationmeans. FIG. 11 depicts typical short mission kit 70. FIGS. 11 a and 11 bdepict front and back views of short mission kit 70. Kit 70 is typicallya front plate kit and contains, Z-Med combat gauze 71, Kerlix cottongauze 72, four inch elastic bandage 73, Halo dressing 74, gloves 75, NPA76, and combat pill pack (not shown).

FIG. 12 shows ballistic plate 120 and first-aid pouch mounting points122 and 124. Mounting points 122 and 124 may be any type of fastenerscapable of releasably holding a first-aid pouch (not shown) attached tothe ballistic plate 120. For example, mounting points 122 and 124 mayinclude glue, hook and loop fasteners, snaps, tape, zippers, magnets,springs, clips, fastecs, safety pins, or any other type of connector orattachment mechanism now know or later developed that is capable ofholding the first-aid pouch to the ballistic plate 120. It should beunderstood, that the locations of fasteners as well as the number offasteners required is not limited to those shown in FIG. 12 . Fasteners122 and 124 could be located at the top and bottom of ballistic plate120, or a single fastener could be placed in the middle of plate 120.Similarly, three of four fasteners could be placed around the perimeterof ballistic plate 120 to hold the first-aid pouch.

FIG. 13 depicts first-aid pouch 130 containing first aid supplies 132affixed utilizing fasteners 122 and 124 to ballistic plate 120.

FIG. 14 depicts the user side view of an alternative type protectivevest 140. Protective vest 140 may be worn by the user by placing straps142 and 144 over the head so that chest section 148 is centered on thefront of the wearers body. Protective vest 140 is typically made fromcloth or some other pliable material but typically is not constructedfrom any form of soft or hard armor. Protective vest 140 contains flap146, which may be held together utilizing hook and loop materials suchas Velcro® or may be held together utilizing snaps, zippers, or anyother clips or fasteners that will keep flap 146 closed.

FIG. 15 depicts the user side of protective vest 140 with flap 146 in anopen position. In operation, a user will slip ballistic plate 154,first-aid pouch 152 and soft armor layer 150 inside the cavity 156created by opening flap 146, As can be seen in FIG. 15 , first-aid pouch152 is located between ballistic plate 154 and soft armor layer 150, Inthis manner, the first aid pouch 152 is protected from bullets orshrapnel by ballistic plate 154 and the user is protected from any sharpobjects or instruments located in first-aid pouch 152 by soft armorlayer 150.

FIG. 16 depicts a ballistic plate carrier 160. Plate carrier 160 isintended to be worn around the user's neck by strap 162 to offeradditional protection to the vital region of the wearer. Pull tab 164located at the bottom of plate carrier 160 opens pouch 178. FIG. 17depicts an end view of the user side of plate carrier 160 with pouch 178in the open position. Internal to plate carrier 160 is soft armor pouch172 which creates pocket 173 and ballistic pouch 175 which createspocket 177. In this configuration, first-aid pouch 174 fits into softarmor pouch 172 and ballistic plate 176 fits into pocket 177. In thismanner, first-aid pouch 174 is located behind ballistic plate 176thereby protecting it from potential damage due to shrapnel or bullets.

In operation, a user of plate carrier 160 desiring to gain access tofirst-aid pouch 174 would pull on tab 164 to open pouch 178, therebygaining access to first-aid pouch 174.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notof limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an examplearchitectural or other configurations and is intended to aid inunderstanding the features and functionality that can be included. Thediscovery is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures orconfigurations, but the desired features can be implemented using avariety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it willbe apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional,logical or physical partitioning and configurations can be implementedto implement the desired features of the present inventions. Also, amultitude of different constituent module names other than thosedepicted herein can be applied to the various partitions.

Although, described in terms of various exemplary embodiments andimplementations, it should be understood that the various features,aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individualembodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particularembodiment with which they are described, but instead can be applied,alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the otherembodiments, whether or not such embodiments are described and whetheror not such features are presented as being a part of a describedembodiment. Thus the breadth and scope of the present disclosure shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

A group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read asrequiring that each and every one of those items be present in thegrouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly statedotherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or”should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, butrather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly statedotherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of theinvention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural iscontemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to thesingular is explicitly stated.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent.

As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A kit, comprising: a sealable pouch; ahandle coupled to the sealable pouch; and a plurality of first-aiditems, wherein the sealable pouch comprises a low profile formdimensioned to fit between a user and a ballistic plate upon theplurality of first-aid items being placed in the pouch.
 2. The kit ofclaim 1, wherein the sealable pouch comprises a thickness of less thanabout 1 inch.
 3. The kit of claim 1, wherein the sealable pouchcomprises a thickness of between about 0.2 and 0.4 inches.
 4. The kit ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of first-aid items are arranged in aprioritized order.
 5. The kit of claim 3, wherein the prioritized orderis based on order of expected use.
 6. The kit of claim 1, where theplurality of first-aid items are detachably secured to a base.
 7. Thekit of claim 1, wherein the sealable pouch comprises a reflectivematerial.
 8. The kit of claim 1, wherein the sealable pouch comprises atleast one of plastic, polyethylene, polypropylene, latex or rubber. 9.The kit of claim 1, further comprising a tear away strip.
 10. The kit ofclaim 1, wherein the first pouch contains a rip cord.
 11. The kit ofclaim 6, wherein the base comprises the same material as the sealablepouch.
 12. The kit of claim 6, wherein the base is malleable.
 13. Anapparatus comprising: a sealable pouch configured to be at least one ofinserted into a pocket of a carrier or positioned between a user and acarrier; a plurality of first-aid equipment, wherein the plurality offirst-aid equipment is positioned within the sealable pouch in a lowprofile arrangement; and an opener coupled to the sealable pouch. 14.The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the opener comprises a single useopener.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the opener is resealable.16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the opener is at least one of atab, a tear-away strip, a rip cord, a zip seal, a tape, a hook and looptype connector, a magnet, a clip, a fastec, a glue, a snap, a zipper, abutton, or a safety pin.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, furthercomprising a connector.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein theconnector is at least one of a hook and loop type connector, a magnet, aspring, a clip, a fastec, a glue, a snap, a tape, a zipper, a button, ora safety pin.
 19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the sealable pouchis configured to be vacuum sealed.
 20. The apparatus of claim 13,further comprising a carrier.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, furthercomprising a ballistic plate.
 22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein thecarrier is a body armor.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the bodyarmor is a vest.
 24. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising ahandle coupled to the sealable pouch.
 25. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the sealable pouch comprises a thickness of less than about 1inch.
 26. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the sealable pouchcomprises a thickness of between about 0.2 and 0.4 inches.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of first-aid items arearranged in a prioritized order within the sealable pouch.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 27, wherein the prioritized order is based on orderof expected use.
 29. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality offirst-aid items are detachably secured to a base within the sealablepouch.
 30. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the sealable pouchcomprises a reflective material.
 31. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe sealable pouch comprises at least one of plastic, polyethylene,polypropylene, latex or rubber.